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I was very recently asked to prepare an outline (curriculum) for a songwriting "course" (I prefer the term "workshop". The Cultural Center in my community reached out to me since I attend a monthly "songwriter's meeting" (in which some local songwriter's share our material and if/when...

I don't always agree with Greg (although he does offer a lot of value to this site) - but I think he has a really good point. Other writers or musicians will over analyze and possibly even downplay what you did to help support their own ego. Regular folks who like music without thinking about...

I suspect most of us agree that it can be very hard to listen objectively, in particular since we do have an "ingrained" idea of what the song should sound like. As the others have suggested time spent away is the best way to let that ingrained idea of the song fade - so when you hear the song...

Having worked in studios for many years, as a session musician, an engineer and to a lesser degree as a producer, I have mixed feelings. I believe a producer needs a solid understanding of song structure, to help the artist create the best songs possible. Naturally a solid understanding of how...

I use mostly D'Addario XL 9's on my Strats and Teles and 10s on my Les Paul and PRS Santana and I have and SG set up for slide that I have 12's on. I use various brands on my acoustics, normally medium gauge. Anyone ever purchased strings from the web site for "Just Strings"? I normally wait...

This has long been a source of internal confusion for me. I have a lot of unused or seriously underused gear (I'm always looking for opportunities to upgrade). I often purchase items that are already 1-2 years "outdated" - so that means the items I've replaced are already 5 plus years outdated...

If I have a paying customer I do take extra steps to make the recording as comparable as possible to commercially successful artists in whatever genre the client has brought to me. I often ask the client to bring 1 or 2 reference cd's of artists they hope to "sound like" and I do my best to get...

I agree with the two primary responses: 1. Get a basic mix up before you have anyone from the band sit in 2. Make sure the band assigns 1 person to sit in on the mix I tend to mix as I go, so at any given time, I have a mix that is reasonably close to the final vision (at least from a volume...

I don't do a lot of live sound (if I haul gear and gig paid, I'd rather haul my drums) - but I have done some live FOH. I find half the time, I have to take the guitar entirely out of the mains (at least at most clubs and smaller festivals) - and then I still get complaints from venues that the...

Don't even get me started on guitarists ...............

I normally suggest to clients that they plan on 10 hours per song. I have found that too many drummers can't tune drums which adds time to get a good sound. Often guitar players get extremely anal about tone and spend too much time trying to get "their sound". Almost everyone gets a touch of...

If you record a track using a mic'd signal - and have the monitors on, you will get bleed of whatever mix you have into the mic (depending on monitor volume, distance of the mic from monitors, position of the mic, etc. If isolation of sound is not a concern - then it is what it is (although it...

I don't really have a collection (not much of actual value) - more an accumulation of mostly $300 guitars that are solid workhorses. Like many on this site, I'm a hopeless Gear Slut, who checks Craigslist at least 3 times a day. Electric 1 - Fender Strat (American) 2 - Fender Starts (Japanese)...

I've also been with BMI for many years - I've been very satisfied. I went with BMI because I focus most of my effort in getting songs placed in movies, TV shows, etc. - areas which I believe BMI is more effective in. They do cover international - I get small payments for various countries which...

There is no way to compensate for hearing loss - in particular if applied to the audio trades. Hearing aids amplify, but it ultimately creates an altered tone that you can't really trust (and the aids will feed back under phones. I wear a pair of aids that cost $6,000 for the pair with digital...

I think this is a very interesting and dare I suggest realistic statement.

While there is no "correct" method, I found there seems to be two basic schools of thought: 1) drums first or 2) vocals first Since most of what I mix are vocal driven songs - I bring the lead vocal up first and try to make sure I have a clean signal and then run through a compressor and...

Perhaps it depends on what motivates you to write. I'm older and grew up listening to the classic styles of songwriting, including Tin Pan Alley, Brill Building, etc. Most of these songs had clever lyrics and catching melodies. The harmony chord structures often were somewhat basic and the...

I somehow managed to accumulate 40 mics (I'm a gear slut) - some of these I use for my live drum and/or percussion rigs: Condenser Mics: Shure KSM32 AT 4047 Rode NT2A AKC C3000 MLX R144 MXL V67B (2) Octava MC012 (2) Cad M179 Sterling Audio ST55 AT Pro37 (2) Behringer B2Pro Dynamics: Shure SM58...

I know this is a cliché answer - but I let the song dictate if the musical composition needs to be more complex. Most of what I write are based around lyrics that tell a relatively relatable story - and often simple is best. I try to be a little more creative than a standard I-IV-V - but many of...